To be fair, the government also manages nuclear weapons, bio and chemical weapon production and a host of other entities that are unimaginably dangerous. While I don't trust them to actually handle the mechanics of design or production (they're terrible and grossly inefficient at that), having an oversight regulatory board that can raise concerns, discuss, license or impose sanctions seems sensible.

It was one of the lessons we learned from the Three Mile Island disaster that everyone from the janitor to the core control room techs needs to be empowered to report a potential safety issue. Making sure that line of communication is open is part of what the NRC does, for example.